Turkmen Water, Land Problems Under Spotlight

An upcoming conference will focus on technical solutions to the chronic water shortage that affects Turkmenistan, a country largely consisting of arid deserts.

The scientific event on irrigation systems and recovering heavily salinised land takes place in the capital Ashgabat on April 2 and 3.

Discussing the event last week, Gurbanmyrat Mezilov, the deputy prime minister responsible for science and new technologies said scientists from dozens of countries would be attending.

Soil salinisation is a major problem in Turkmenistan. According to the water ministry’s research institute, more than a third of all land is affected by high levels of salt and is unusable for agriculture in its present state.

"We desperately need new technologies and ideas about how to combat soil salinisation," an expert in soil improvement in the eastern Lebap region said.

He argues that the dilapidated state of the irrigation network is the principal culprit for salt being retained in the water table, and work is needed to restore and expand it.

This article was produced as part of IWPR’s News Briefing Central Asia output, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy.